Jameer Nelson contemplates his future with Nuggets

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, right, talks with Jameer Nelson during a break in the Nuggets game against Indiana Pacers on Jan. 30. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

Jameer Nelson is back in Philadelphia, spending time with his family and doing more than a little bit of thinking about his future with the Nuggets.

“We’ll see how things go,” he said. “We all have decisions to make.”

Nelson’s preference is to return to the Nuggets next season. Not only just return, but get back to playing a big role on the court. He’s got two years left on the three-year, $13.5 million deal he signed with the team last summer. But he played a total of just seven minutes in the Nuggets’ last 24 games of the season as D.J. Augustin took over the primary reserve point guard role. Nelson doesn’t want a repeat of that next season.

If it appears that a drop off in playing time is in store again, Nelson wouldn’t be apprehensive at all to authorize his agent to request he be traded. His first choice, however, is to return to the Nuggets with his role restored.

“Like I said we’ll figure it out and see what’s going on,” Nelson said. “I would love to come back here. That’s the reason why I signed a three-year deal. But it’s just one of those things that, it’s a business. It’s a business, and we have to figure it out.”

A sprained left wrist started the reduction in minutes, mainly because no one was sure if it would heal enough to allow him to play. Nelson missed six games with the injury in mid-January, then returned to play in the final two of a three-game road trip. The wrist, however, wasn’t alright.

Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson drives on Pacers forward Solomon Hill on Jan. 30. It would be the second-to-last game Nelson played in during the regular season. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

Surgery was an option, but was tabled. Nelson missed the next eight games while rehabbing the injury, but in that time, the Nuggets traded for Augustin for insurance. Augustin flourished in his role in Denver, causing Nuggets coach Michael Malone to make the decision to bump Nelson down to the third point guard.

“It wasn’t ideal at all,” Nelson said. “But you look at the situation and you see me, D.J. and Emmanuel (Mudiay). I was their biggest fan. It was just one of those things that was out of my control. I talked to coach, talked to (GM) Tim (Connelly) a couple of times. You know, this wasn’t my time to play.

“So, I’m going to always be a pro, I’m going to always be who I am. Obviously I wanted to play. Frustration sets in, but at the same time you have to take a step back and realize how fortunate you are.”

The Nuggets have a decision to make. Connelly has said he’d like to talk to Augustin about a possible return, and if the Nuggets do bring the speedy guard back they’ll likely get pressure from Nelson to deal him to a team that will play him. Sitting and watching an entire season won’t sit well with the veteran.

As for the wrist, Nelson said it was healing nicely and didn’t expect to have to have a surgical procedure on it during the offseason.

“I doubt I need any kind of procedure,” he said. “I think if I needed it I would have gotten it. I’ll figure out in the next couple of weeks what I’m doing, just with my life in general. I’m going to go home to my family, enjoy them, get away from basketball a little bit, and be a dad. That’s the most important thing, being a husband and a dad. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Barton, Harris get votes in Most Improved Portland guard C.J. McCollum won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, announced on Friday morning. Nuggets guard Will Barton and Gary Harris each received votes. Barton finished fifth in the voting and got one first-place vote. Harris finished 12th and had one first-place vote as well.

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

Nelson was bottom 10% of the league in real plus minus and a terrible defender by any old school or advanced stat. Augustin was also in the dregs of the league and also a lousy defender. I think the FO needs to get rid of these guys asap. What a shock that Malone would sit down one of the single worst defenders in the league in Nelson, and what a shame that he had to play a guy with a lot more offensive energy but also a truly poor defender in Augustin. Any wonder why the Nuggets finished 24th in the league defensively? When is Dempsey going to admit that the Nuggets stink defensively because they have a roster full of poor defensive players? It’s not that complicated,Chris. Tell the truth and help make Josh and Mr. Potato Head come clean.

willcommentforfood

Doubtful they can afford Augustin. They’ll only keep one of the two though. They were both better than Mudiay, but that’s only because they aren’t rookies. This team really could use an upgrade of talent at the PG position. Mudiay will continue to improve, but I’m doubting he’ll be good enough next year to get the team over .500. This team needs an immediate infusion of talent, energy, leadership, & the elements of a winning culture. Doesn’t have to be getting a star, just the right combination of above average players will do it. They have some already, but it isn’t enough, nor is it the right combination, nor are they being asked to do it the right way. We’ll see what the FO does, hope it’s good and not relentlessly mediocre or “potential” based. Sign someone like free agent Dwayne Wade, and the team will be in the playoffs with a winning record. He won’t want to come to Denver, and they won’t be able to afford a guy like him. So if we get a “star”, it will likely be a head case who hits the janitor, or leads the league in technicals, that’s literally what they’ve previously looked at. And if they’re going for drafting some Euro guys again, they ought to bring us some scoring talent, if we had a Euro 3 pt. wizard, it would help a lot. Not sure if Malone even knows how to use that kind of talent properly, the situational kind. We got some good picks, I don’t know how what talent they plan to draft, so we’ll have to find that out. Sigh.

Once more from the underground. I liked Lap Dog’s ‘risky’ statistical approach to Jokic’s truly surprising rookie season, even though the ragged quality of Dempsey’s new found interest in smart numbers drowned out how great a rookie season Joker actually had. Clearly, Dempsey doesn’t really understand the stats he’s reporting on. Let me break it down a little more simply. Jokic was #9 in the league in real plus minus. That means he was in the top ten in the whole league–not just rookies, the whole league–in improving his team’s performance when he was actually on the court. Come on Chris, you’re supposedly a journalist but you buried the lead. I think you could have done better than a very blurry take on one of the pieces of good news the Nuggets actually have.

wordcat

Since no one actually comments on Dempsey’s takes in ‘above ground’ theoretical threads, maybe keeping the ‘underground’ blog up to date would help the Post’s cause. Just a thought.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.